Itchy... that is the story of my life right now. Systemic poison ivy, for those of you playing the home game, sucks hard. The second round of steroids seems to be working, but I'm still pretty uncomfortable pretty much all of the time.

Heat definitely exacerbates the itchy. So going out in the hot weather to exercise hasn't been my favorite thing. I keep pushing my dog's evening walk later and later and later hoping it will cool off. (No such luck)

But I have still managed to get a few morning runs in. Last Saturday and again today, I went out to the park and timed myself for a 2 mile run. I've gotten it in my head that I want to pass the Army's Physical Fitness Test, so I need to do a 2 mile run in 21 minutes and change.

The first week I tried it, I did intervals of running and walking and it took me about 26 minutes to finish.

Last week and again today I powered through and ran the whole 2 miles. Heat be damned! Yeah... it still took me 26 minutes to finish. Apparently my running isn't actually any faster than my walking.

I didn't push myself to my limit - I was saving energy for a 3rd un-timed mile today. But seriously. 3 weeks and I'm not any faster? This bites.

I feel like I'm a little stronger, and the 2 miles has gotten a little easier. But man... I'm sloooooow.